NAIROBI, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - Kenya's former anti-corruption chief on Wednesday called for an amnesty for those who confessed to economic crimes, a day after returning from three years of exile in Britain.

John Githongo, who fled Kenya three years ago after exposing high-level corruption scandals, argued that inquiries to establish culpability 'not only delay justice but makes ultimate accountability less likely.

'There needs in this country to be an amnesty for economic crimes and corruption for those willing to make due redress and restitution to the people of Kenya after an open acknowledgement that they have swindled wananchi (citizens),' he told a forum of activist groups in the capital.

Githongo was appointed permanent secretary for ethics and governance when President Mwai Kibaki came to power in 2002, but fled in 2005 after allegedly receiving death threats following a probe into the so-called Anglo-Leasing scandal.

The Anglo Leasing affair involved the payment of more than 200 million dollars (163 million euros) to spurious firms for high-tech passports and police forensics labs as well as a dubious contract for new naval vessels.

A probe report into Kenya's biggest corruption affair -- the Goldenberg scandal in the 1990s -- is yet to be made public and an inquiry is currently ongoing into the sale of a luxury city hotel at the heart of the scandal.

Kibaki came to power with a pledge to end the corruption that dogged his predecessor's government, but his administration has been criticised of failing to tackle the problem.